


Roswell New Mexico Week 2019

by el_gilliath



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Douchebag Rath in chapter 5, Heavy Angst Homophobia and Misogyny in chapter 2, M/M, Silly ass porn in chapter 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-23
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-12 03:30:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,693
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19939492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/el_gilliath/pseuds/el_gilliath
Summary: Collection of my stories from Roswell New Mexico Week 2019. All warnings will be in the beginning notes.





	1. Day 1: When we were young

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s hard to look at him sometimes, because looking at Alex Manes is like looking at the sun. A blinding, gorgeous, giving piece of life that makes Michael’s heart burst. It makes him soar, makes him come undone. It makes him feel alive.

It’s hard to look at him sometimes, because looking at Alex Manes is like looking at the sun. A blinding, gorgeous, giving piece of life that makes Michael’s heart burst. It makes him soar, makes him come undone. It makes him feel alive.

But telling Alex that is hard, harder than he ever thought anything could be. Because standing here, in front of Alex, about to tell him just how he actually feels, he’s nervous. He’s so nervous, it feels like his stomach is going to rebel. How can he, Michael Guerin, tell this creature of absolute perfection, Alex Manes, that he likes him. That parts of him wishes he hadn’t pulled away in the shed so he could’ve kissed him more, so he could’ve been kissing him for days already.

But he did, and now he’s here, again, in front of Alex, who’s taken off the visor and is playing with it. Just as nervous as Michael is, just as unsure and still so very, very beautiful. It helps to see him, it helps to be here with him, it helps with the want in his system. 

He can’t help but kiss him, after the nervous “Talk” leaves Alex’s mouth. He rushes forward, and does the one thing he’s been wanting, for longer than he might be ready to admit. The softness of Alex’s lips is perfect, the feeling of his skin against his hands even more so. He smiles into the kiss, smiles as they pull away, smiles at the look on Alex’s face. Maybe the last smile is the only one that shows on his face, but he still smiles.

He goes when Alex pulls him back in, when their lips meet again, when their hands roam and they’re pushed so close together there is no room between them. Alex is the sun, and Michael, might just be in heaven.


	2. Day 2: Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It sometimes surprises him, how much he can hate his own son.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BEFORE YOU READ THIS, BE WARNED THAT THIS FEATURES MISOGYNY, CHILD ABUSE, GAY BASHING AND JUST GENERAL HATRED. PLEASE be careful if any of the above triggers you.

It sometimes surprises him, how much he can hate his own son. How much the sight of him, his own flesh and blood, disgusts him. How much it makes his insides boil down to its very core, how much he wishes he could erase the name of Manes off of him. He’s not worthy of it, not good enough for it, not **man** enough for it. His youngest is a disgrace, so much like that bitch ex-wife of his both in looks and in behavior it makes him want to kill him.

He’s seen it, known it, felt it about his youngest and how fucked up he would turn out to be ever since he was born. Ever since he came out of his mother’s womb, crying more than any of his brothers, fussing more than any of them as he grew up. Latching on to the youngest Ortecho girl and the DeLuca girl since he started school like some pansy.

He tried to force him onto the right path by using his own connection to Jim Valenti, being friends with Kyle Valenti might set him straight. But instead he watches as his kid grows up and has a crush on Kyle, staring at him a bit too long, laughing just a bit too much. He has to stop it before his kid corrupts someone else as well, a carefully spoken sentence in Kyle’s vicinity is enough for that. And as he watches how his son’s best friend turns on him, he feels pride of his own actions. Maybe now his kid will stop his foolish perversions.

But it doesn’t, because then Michael Guerin happens, and his son turns even more down the unlawful path. A disgusting fag, who flaunted his perversions in his shed, under his **roof** with that fucking Guerin boy. An alien, no less. An alien come down to earth to ruin their government, their country, their forces so they could do a hostile takeover and break the world. Break America. If he wasn’t disgusted by his son by then, that would have done it.

He forces him into the Air Force instead, he might be a disgrace, but he is still a Manes, and he will live up to his name. Maybe he’ll die on post, so Jesse doesn’t have to dirty his hands any more by beating the fag out of him. It has always felt good, always felt right to beat Alex into submission, but touching him makes his skin crawl.

Instead Alex rises through the ranks, earning his own command quicker than his brothers. Almost like he belongs in the military. He does his tours with dignity and professionalism, commanding officers tell Jesse daily what a good son he has, worthy of the Manes name. It makes him want to smash it all to pieces, tell them about his perversions and get him that dishonorable discharge he **knows** his son deserves. But he doesn’t, protecting the Manes name is more important.

When his son’s transport hits an IED, he wonders if this is the time. Is he finally going to have a dead son he can pretend to grieve, instead of an fucking alive fag he has to pretend to love. But no, his son foils his hopes again and survives. He loses a leg, but he survives much to Jesse’s disappointment. It seems his youngest lives to not make him happy.

He doesn’t care what happens to Alex after that, but he does make him come home to Roswell and the base he works at so he can keep an eye on him. After all, Guerin is still in Roswell, and he knows they’ve been in contact during the years. Not often, but they have. 

He puts as much pressure on Alex as he can, reminds him of who he is, reminds him of what he is, of the proud US Air Force that he serves. He knows Alex hates him as much as he hates Alex, but he will still listen. He’s spent too long pushing his words into Alex’s brain for it not to work. After all, Jesse did make Alex a promise that he would kill Guerin if he ever caught them together again. Flaunting themselves in public is almost enough to make him go through with it, but his words work, as does his bribe to make Fat Roger buy copper from Guerin where Alex can see it.

The victory he feels is enough to grant himself one extra whiskey that night.

Of course, Alex finding out about Project Shepherd was never the plan. Nor was him finding out about it being shut down. He really needs to find his ex-wife and put her down where she belongs, underneath his boot. It’s the only place she was ever of any use, when he could use her as he wanted to and when she gave him his sons. Three of them, at least. Harlan has always been the perfect son, Hunter too for the most part, Flint has had his issues but he’s fully a Manes man now.

Being blackmailed and sent to Niger by his youngest makes Jesse think, for the first time, that maybe Alex is a true Manes man after all. The thought leaves as quick as it enters, because no faggot can ever be a true Manes. Especially not his son. He’s too much like his bitch of a mother for that.


	3. Day 3: Quick and dirty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex doesn’t like the sounds his new car is making. Having finally gotten out of the military, he had to trade in his lovely jeep, it belonging to the Air Force and all, for an older SUV. It’s a nice car, but he knows the shocks have seen better days since the ride is bumpier than it should be. Serves him right for buying a car without taking anyone to check it out with him. Like his, oh, mechanic boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is basically just an excuse to write mechanic Michael themed porn.
> 
> Prompt by Andrea-Lyn: porn themed mechanic, “I need new shocks, but I don’t have any money” malex
> 
> Probably an established relationship thing, but Alex swinging by one day with his jeep and getting Michael to fix it, but oops, he doesn’t have any money. So they need to work out some alternate methods.
> 
> THANK YOU TO MY LOVELY HANNAH FOR THE READ THOUGH ❤️❤️

Alex doesn’t like the sounds his new car is making. Having finally gotten out of the military, he had to trade in his lovely jeep, it belonging to the Air Force and all, for an older SUV. It’s a nice car, but he knows the shocks have seen better days since the ride is bumpier than it should be. Serves him right for buying a car without taking anyone to check it out with him. Like his, oh, mechanic boyfriend. He also knows that if he comes in now, after the sale is said and done, Michael will mock him relentlessly, because yes, he should have asked him to begin with. Everyone called Michael whenever they needed something fixed, even Maria after their pretty shitty break-up (though they had become friends again), even Kyle (they still didn’t like each other).

But Michael, being the resident drunk and bad-boy always showed up. The fact that the residents of Roswell still treated him like shit even when they called him for every little thing, made Alex’s heart hurt for his sweet boyfriend.

It had taken Maria refusing to serve drinks to anyone who treated Michael like shit and The Righteous Fury of Isobel Evans, which frankly was scarier than anything, to make people treat Michael somewhat with respect. But when the Hospital’s power had shut down and no one could fix it besides Michael, saving several people (including kids) on life support, Roswell had calmed down and finally started treated him like a valuable member of their town.

Alex knows that Michael will never admit it, but people saying Hello, Thank you and Goodbye when they come by the junkyard, means more to him than anything after living so long being the pariah of the town.

But that still doesn’t help with how he can make Michael take a look at his car without being mocked. He already knows Michael would do anything for him, he would do the same for Michael, but Michael still won’t do it quietly. He’ll make stupid comments that’ll make Alex want to strangle him because he knows he’s right, and that’s not good for any relationship. Besides, Michael should never know just how many times he’s right, there will be no living with him.

Which means he needs to come up with a plan. A plan Michael hopefully won’t be able to resist going along with that will also get Alex what he wants. A plan that hopefully makes Michael forget comments and being right. Well, there’s only one plan that will work for that.

He sets course for the junkyard, knowing it’s late enough in the day that Michael is probably there alone by now, or he will be soon. It only takes him a ten minute, bumpy, drive but sure enough, Michael is alone with his top half under the hood of a gray Mercedes. He moved from under the hood as he hears the car, and smiles when he sees Alex’s car stop. He’s wearing dirty jeans, an oil stained white t-shirt and the ever-present cowboy hat on his head. Which means Alex needs to work fast and he’s ready the second he gets out of the car.

“Hey-”

“Hello Mr. Guerin,” Alex interrupts. Michael’s eyes go wide, with wonder, amusement and just a tiny bit of lust. Oh yeah, this’ll work. “I was wondering if you could take a look at the shocks of my car? They seem to be a bit… stiff.”

“I-uh. Sure, I can take a look,” Michael replies, full on gaping at him at this point.

“Oh can you, that would be very kind. It’s been a bit of a bouncy ride these last few weeks, and it keeps. Squeaking.”

“Squeaking.”

“Mhm. Maybe even more like a whimper.” He knows he’s laying it on thick, but it’s worth it for the audible swallow Michael does. He walks closer and lays a hand ever so softly against his chest. “I would really appreciate it, Mr. Guerin.”

Michael searches his eyes for a few minutes, flickering back and forth as he tries to determine what it is exactly Alex wants. In the end, he just nods, a wry smile on his lips.

“Of course, Captain Manes. Give me a few minutes to check out the, uh, situation,” he says, fingers coming up to lightly flick the brim of the cowboy hat still on his head. Alex bites his lip and smiles as he steps back and does a lazy gesture against his car, a gesture he knows make Michael nostrils flare in obvious interest, especially when paired with the lip bite. It works as well as it always does, Michael gives him a dark look before he strides over to Alex’s SUV. The examination doesn’t take more than ten minutes, as Michael walks around the car, but it does enable Alex to ogle his boyfriends fantastic behind when he bends down or crouches to check the struts and shocks on each tire.

“Yeah, the shocks definitely need replacing, might be worth checking out the rest of the suspension too, just in case. How long have you had this car?”

“Oh not that long, I bought it used. How much do you think it’ll cost me?”

Michael narrows his eyes slightly, but Alex just smiles so he will keep playing along. “Probably about a grand. They’re a bit more expensive for this kind of SUV.”

“Oh…”

“Is there a problem?” Michael asks, suspicion lacing his voice now. He knows Alex is good for it, which means he is definitely on to him.

“I don’t have that kind of money. Is there… Any other way I could pay it off?” he replies, walking with slow, measured steps towards Michael.

“Like what?”

“Hmm.” He stops in front of him, slowly pulling off his shirt, leaving him only in a blue t-shirt. He bites his lip again and looks up at Michael through his lashes as he settles his hand low on Michael’s stomach, as close to the ridiculously large belt buckle as he can. “Maybe I can help you out with that boner you seem to be getting.”

For a moment, Michael froze so completely that Alex’s brain started shouting for him to **abort mission** , as if he had royally fucked up by trying to play a game Michael did **not** approve of. But that quickly goes away as he notices Michael’s pupils dilate, the way his breath stutters for the smallest second, the way the tiniest of shivers run through his body.

“I’m sure we can work out some, _arrangement_ ,” Michael replies, the muscles of his arms tensing as if he’s preparing for something that Alex really wants to be a part of. “Maybe you can show me your particular set of _skills_.”

“I’d love too, Mr. Guerin.” He slides his hand down over the belt buckle, cupping Michael’s noticeably growing erection. He gets a growl directly into his ear for his troubles, the growl intensifying when he lifts his other hand and lightly flicks a nipple with his fingernail. He lifts his hand further and plucks Michael’s black hat from his head. 

“Mind if I borrow this?” He asks, just as he places it firmly on his own head. Alex wearing his hat turns Michael on just as much as Michael in full mechanical mode turns Alex on and they both know it. Alex isn’t surprised when he’s swiftly turned around shoved up against the front of his SUV, Michael plastering himself to his front. 

“Now, don’t be a tease, darlin’. You want that suspension checked out and those shocks replaced, I’d really like it if you would get naked so I can touch you,” Michael all but growls out. He follows his words with his hands sliding inside Alex’s t-shirt, caressing his stomach and sides as he slowly lifts the t-shirt up. Alex just lifts his hands and lets Michael take it off completely. 

“Can I kiss you, Mr. Guerin?”

“Darlin’, you can do whatever you want.”

It’s enough of an invitation for Alex, who pulls Michael closer by his t-shirt and slots their lips together. Alex is good at many things, but he’s particularly good at kisser. He knows the tricks to bring Michael to his knees, the flick of a tongue against Michael’s that makes him moan, the soft sting of teeth that gets a clutch of his hips, the light brush of lips that makes Michael unable to let him go for any stretch of time. He utilizes every one of them, teasing Michael as he lifts his grease stained t-shirt up and off, as he runs his hands across his sweaty, toned upper body and down towards the always ridiculously large belt buckle, opening it with deft hands.

“How much did you say those shocks were going to cost me, again?” Alex whispers against Michael’s lips as he puts his hands down Michael’s pants, palming his erection. He’s fully hard by now, and Alex congratulates himself on another job well done. He’s also **very** thankful that Michael never wears underwear.

“The uh, shocks are about 200 a pop,” Michael starts, as Alex lowers the zipper on his jeans to give himself better room.

“Mhm, and checking the suspension, what’ll that cost me?”

“De-depends on if you have to do something abo-, shit, about it. Checking it fully will be around 200, changing it will be- Jesus Christ how do you expect me to concentrate when you do that?”

“When I do what?” Alex asks innocently, his hand gently rolling Michael’s balls in his hand. “I need a cost assessment so I know what I’m using my _skills_ to pay off.”

“I’ll tell you what you can use your fucking skills for,” Michael suddenly says, one hand coming up to grip Alex’s hair as the other wrenches his hand out of his pants. “Get down on your knees, and suck me off. Make sure I’m good and hard, then I want you to turn around, open your pants and get yourself ready so I can fuck you.”

Alex takes a deep breath, as the want surges through him. “Yes, Mr. Guerin.”

Michael holds out a hand just in case he needs it, for when he goes down on the prosthesis, but Alex knows what he’s doing at this point, sliding as smoothly onto his knees as he can and pulling down Michael’s jeans at the same time. The dick in front of him is as perfect as it’s always been, it makes him want to lick Michael all over. But he doesn’t have time for that, so he settles for licking the head of Michael’s dick, causing a loud groan to escape Michael’s mouth.

“You have a beautiful dick, Mr. Guerin.”

“Jesus you’re laying it on thick,” Michael murmurs above him, which turns into another groan as Alex takes the head of his dick in his mouth and gives it a light suck.

“Don’t you like it, Mr. Guerin?”

“I do, sweetheart. Believe me, I do.”

“Good,” Alex says with a grin, before he sucks as much of Michael’s dick into his mouth as he can fit. IT’s always an experience sucking Michael’s dick, the moans he gets from tonguing the head, the slight whimper as he doesn’t cover his teeth and runs them lightly across the shaft. The shudder as he plays with the slit and fondles his balls at the same time. It’s euphoria to turn someone on this much, just by being who he is.

“That’s enough darlin’, I really don’t want to come before I get my dick inside of you,” Michael says, pulling himself back until only the head is still in Alex’s mouth, who can resist a hard suck that elicits a groan out of Michael.

“Whatever you say, Mr. Guerin,” Alex replies, as he releases the head of Michael’s erection with a soft pop. Michael holds out a hand to help him up, attentive to a fault, and drags him into a kiss when he’s back on his feet. It’s a slow, lazy kiss, tongues tangling and lips brushing as Michael opens Alex’s pants, pushing them down along with his boxers to get a hand on his ass.

“I really love your ass.”

“Good. You got lube?”

Michael replied by stretching his hand out and turning slightly towards the Airstream, where the door opened and lube zoomed into his hand seconds later. “Yes, now turn around darlin’.”

Alex didn’t answer, just pulled Michael into another short but filthy kiss before he turned around and leaned against his car. He leaned forward, separating his feet as much as he could as Michael pushed his pants and boxers even lower, his hand softly caressing the inside of Alex’s thigh as he went back up. The quiet snick of the opening lube came a second later, followed by a wet thumb ever so slightly pushing against his rim.

“Prep?”

“Don’t need much, just, please, Mr. Guerin.”

Michael’s hand comes up and tangles in his hair, pulling his head backwards as he sets his teeth in Alex’s neck, biting down firmly until Alex moans loudly. He soothes the bite with his tongue after, as his thumb starts to lightly push against Alex’s entrance, testing how much prep he actually needs. Considering they had sex earlier than morning, it gives easily enough and Alex whimpers as Michael pushes his thumb as far in as he can.

“Guess you weren’t lying. Good boy,” Michael whispers hotly in his ear as he removes his thumb to another whimper from Alex, replacing it quickly enough by his finger. He moves it in and out a few times, lightly crooking his finger before joining it with a second. As much as Alex knows what makes Michael tick, vice versa is also true. Michael knows exactly how to take Alex apart with only a touch, with teeth in his neck and a hand softly pulling his hair. The two fingers moving firmly inside him are proof of that, avoiding his prostate except for intentional jabs every now and then to stimulate it, the teasing tongue that sometimes replaced the nibbling teeth just another testament to how well Michael knows him.

He whimpers again, as Michael removes his fingers. The ripping of a condom wrapper makes him look back, watching as Michael rolls it down his erection and dribbles some more lube on, winking at Alex as he notices him watching. They don’t need words at this point, the look in their eyes are more than enough to tell them if they still want this.

Michael searches his for a moment, before he lines up, his hand clutching his hip tightly as he starts to push in. The slight discomfort at the stretch is exactly why he didn’t want more prep, he likes feeling it when Michael’s not in him any more.

“You okay?” Michael asks, and Alex only nods, pushings his ass back further to get Michael to _move_. Michael chuckles, biting down hard on his neck to make Alex gasp as he pushes all the way in. They might be a couple that doesn’t care much for the traditional top or bottom roles, but holy hell does it feel good to have Michael inside of him, the way his dick drags just correctly, the slight angle change Michael does to push against his prostate with every motion.

It drives him crazy, the way Michael takes his time, prolonging the pleasure and drawing every bit of emotion out of him. He can’t stop making noises as Michael pushes back inside of him, can’t stop the whimpers as he pulls back. He knows they are out in public, if anyone comes to the Junkyard they will see them and their drawn out coupling in full color, complete with noises and Alex looking wrecked. 

He contemplates jerking himself off, but all that flies out of the window as Michael starts with the short, but powerful jabs, driving himself in and out of him with a motion that would push his own already painful erection into the SUV if Michael wasn’t holding him in place with both hands on his hips.

“Mi-Michael!” he all but screams out as Michael pushes in hard against his prostate and stays there, rotating his hips so he can drag his dig just. Right inside Alex.

“Hush, darlin’,” Michael answers back, snaking his hand around to fist Alex’s dick, holding him tight as Michael moves his hand along his dick, grinding his hips into Alex’s ass at the same time. It’s euphoric, the perfect pressure on his prostate and on his dick. 

The orgasm takes him completely by surprise, it just rushes up inside of him as Michael once again tugs his hair and bites his neck in the same place as before, the sharp sting of pain and pleasure making him tumble over the edge, his dick jerking in Michael’s grip as he moans loudly, his hands curling on the hood of the car. He feels Michael still behind him, only his hand moving gently on his dick to wring every last sensation out of him, falling away when Alex lets loose a moan that means he’s about to be overstimulated. But he’s determined to see this through.

“Come on, Mr. Guerin, don’t you want to come in my ass?”

He’s lifted up by Michael’s hand snaking around his chest shortly after, the other hand still in his hair. “You are laying it on way thick.”

“Are you saying you don’t like it?” he asks, pushing his ass back against Michael’s hips. That only gets him a short growl, before Michael pushes him back down against the car, pulling out and slamming back into him.

He can’t help but moan as Michael sets a hard and fast pace, designed only for his own pleasure. It still turns him on, Michael’s hand holding him down ever so gently, as he pushes in and out of him, rough circular motions in between. He takes it all, short moans leaving him whenever Michael does something he likes particularly well.

It doesn’t take long before Michael’s rhythm starts to falter, his breathing turns rougher, his hands grip harder. Alex rides it out, pushing back against him the way he knows Michael likes until Michael pushes in deep, freezing as a guttural groan leaves him. Alex can feel him coming, feels it in the way Michael plasters himself up against his back, circling him with his arms as his hips jerks one, two times.

It’s always been one of the hottest things Alex knows, the way Michael just surrenders himself when he comes. It makes Alex grin, pulling Michael’s arms tight around him for a second.

“I don’t know what has gotten into you Alex, but that might be one of the hottest things I have ever done.”

“I just wanted to have some fun,” Alex replies, laughing softly as Michael snorts.

“You know, you didn’t have to do all that just to make me check out your shocks, I would’ve done that for free anyway.”

“I know, Michael. I wanted too.”

“Good. Also, the next time you buy a new car, just take me with you. That way you won’t buy a car with bad suspension.”

Damn it.


	4. Day 4: Not just sugar and spice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s calming, to be in the kitchen of the Crashdown, calming in a way that feels familiar. She grew up in this kitchen, ran around there as a kid while her dad yelled in Spanish about hot plates and knives, stormed out of there as a teenager when Rosa annoyed her enough that she just couldn’t stay home any more, walked out of there as a young adult ready to see the world after Rosa’s death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I took the prompt a little bit more literally, and decided to celebrate both Liz Ortecho and her home, The Crashdown

It’s calming, to be in the kitchen of the Crashdown, calming in a way that feels familiar. She grew up in this kitchen, ran around there as a kid while her dad yelled in Spanish about hot plates and knives, stormed out of there as a teenager when Rosa annoyed her enough that she just couldn’t stay home any more, walked out of there as a young adult ready to see the world after Rosa’s death.

But walking back into it feels like coming home. Feels like walking back into the café after school, after dates, after living a decade of her life away from Roswell. It feels like the bustling life of running a café in alien capital number one, knowing that her dad is an ‘alien’ himself.

She remembers making omelettes with her dad in that kitchen when she was six, remembers her mother softly teaches her how to make soup when she was nine, remembers her and Rosa’s tragic attempt to cook churro pancakes for their dad when they were fifteen and seventeen, how he came into the kitchen and laughed loudly at the mess his kitchen was. How she and Rosa joined in on laughing when he did, how they made the pancakes together and ate them after, before Rosa’s relationship with Arturo went downhill. 

It smells like her dad, cooking, it smells like churro pancakes, like sitting at the counter when she was five, thirteen, seventeen, twenty eight, talking to her dad about boys and the troubles in life. It smells like joy, love, fun and laughter.

It smells like sorrow. Like missing her sister, like missing her mom, like having her heart broken by Kyle Valenti. It smells like fear.

She likes to think she got her fascination for biology in that kitchen, and most days she’s not far from the truth. The building blocks of a kitchen resembles biology, in more ways than people want to admit sometimes. It’s flour, milk, starch and yeast, it’s vegetables, fruits, fish and meats, it’s sugar and spices, put together in ways like scientists use the building blocks of nature to create something, to figure something out. Taste and cells and gastronomy and biology, so different and yet so alike in many ways. Similar enough to where it all feels like it could be connected.

Maybe that’s why she always liked cooking too, even if she likes biology more. Why she didn’t mind being front of house and serving, standing behind the counter and making coffee, talking to people as she brought them their food, their drinks, their milkshakes. Seeing the sugar and spice come together like cells under a microscope.

She didn’t expect to find herself back there, at twenty eight with four degrees, but at the same time she doesn’t completely hate it. Her dad in the kitchen, muttering to himself and singing along to the Spanish music he has got going in there, dancing along to himself while their line cook Carlos looks on with a shake of his head. She likes most of the regulars, some of them having been there from when she was three and running around, even if she wouldn’t mind kicking Racist Hank’s ass.

She likes old man Sanders who comes in with his wife on Sundays for breakfast at 8am on the dot, she likes Sheriff Valenti who comes in for coffee and pancakes when she’s able, she likes (liked) Grant Greene sitting in his booth and sprouting bullshit (well, he showed her).

She likes Max coming in just to chat with her and drink a Little Green Man milkshake, she likes Kyle hanging out while eating waffles drenched in syrup, she likes Michael coming in to discuss science and steal fries, she likes Maria and Alex keeping her company with silly stories and nostalgia from the jukebox as they share a cupcake, she even likes Isobel coming in, sighing as she sits down to wait on the burger she lets herself have once a month.

She likes that it’s where she grew up, where she ran around as a kid while her dad yelled in Spanish about hot plates and knives, where she stormed out as a teenager when Rosa annoyed her enough that she just couldn’t stay home any more, where she walked out as a young adult ready to see the world after Rosa’s death.

She likes that it’s not just sugar and spice, not just biology and gastronomy. It’s home.


	5. Day 5: Freaky Friday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s quiet, when he rolls into town. Quiet in a way he doesn’t think Roswell New Mexico should be quiet. It might just be because something is missing, that Zan, no not Zan, Max is dead. Maybe that’s why he’s able to enter without any prodding in his mind, why he was able to go to Michael’s trailer. Michael, what a stupid name, nothing like their true name. Rath is a good, strong name, worthy of a general. Michael just sounds like a sobbing child, and from the grief he feels in their distant bond, that is exactly what he is.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt by SalazarTipton on Ao3/bialiencowboy on tumblr
> 
> with the aftermath of all the shit that's rained down on michael and isobel, they shut themselves up in izzy's house. they don't know rath blew into town when it felt something shifting in their distant bonds. they don't know he's here. they don't know he walked into the wild pony, dressed as michael and kissed maria.
> 
> I’m just gonna warn for douchbagery here, because Rath is a douchebag. And he does kiss Maria with her thinking it’s Michael, so be warned for that as well.

It’s quiet, when he rolls into town. Quiet in a way he doesn’t think Roswell New Mexico should be quiet. It might just be because something is missing, that Zan, no not Zan, Max is dead. Maybe that’s why he’s able to enter without any prodding in his mind, why he was able to go to Michael’s trailer. Michael, what a stupid name, nothing like their true name. Rath is a good, strong name, worthy of a general. Michael just sounds like a sobbing child, and from the grief he feels in their distant bond, that is exactly what he is.

Now though, now he gets to have some fun. Some fun in Roswell, New Mexico, maybe make some waves. He wishes Villandra and Zan would come with him, but he also gets that they don’t want to go to Roswell. It’s nothing like New York, a hole in the fucking dessert. He doesn’t like it, but he does look forward to maybe fucking up his sibling clone’s life.

He stops at The Wild Pony, hoping he will find Maria there. She’s been a delight, the other times he’s been there, disguised as Michael. Like she actually tolerates the little child that his clone is. 

He’s not disappointed when he walks in, she’s at the bar, beautiful and wonderful as always. She looks up when she sees him, her eyes going huge in surprise. Like she’s… happy to see him. Interesting, so the child might’ve actually made a move.

“Hey DeLuca, you’re closed, I guess?” he asks, his gaze calculating as she turns around to look at him. Her eyes are hopeful, yet guarded, he can work with that. “I’m sorry if I interrupted you. I just- I just really need a drink.”

She looks at him, a small smile coming to her lips. “No. No, we’re open, actually.”

He grins, a grin he knows is more predatory than the child, but he doesn’t let her look too long before he stalks over to her. Her breath hitches as he gets closer, and part of him doesn’t want to play a game where he flirts, she flirts back and they drink. 

He kisses her instead, his hands hungry as they grip her face, fingers sprawling to drag her in and angle her just the way he wants. She lets out a small squeak of surprise, but kisses back after a moment of hesitation. It’s good, he knew she would be good at this. That he could just take for a bit, without her pulling back.

“Guerin,” she whispers as she pulls back a little, but Rath doesn’t want to hear **his** name. He shakes his head, minutely, and pulls her back in, kissing her deeply to distract her. It works, she doesn’t try to speak again.

They keep kissing, wrapped up in each other that they don’t hear the door open.

“Maria, are you he- Oh.”

Maria breaks away from him, pushing him away slightly as she turns towards the door, her eyes going wide. “Alex!”

“Sorry, I uh. The door was open.”

Rath turns around slowly, eyes narrowed at the sight of Alex Manes standing just inside the bar. He looks like a snack, like someone Rath would devour whole if he could, in black jeans and a leather jacket. No wonder the sob child wants him.

Alex is looking at Maria, betrayal and pain in his features for a second, before he’s able to hide it. Serves him right, for being who he is.

“I wanted to talk.”

“Alex-”

“Don’t worry about it, Maria. We-.” He stops himself mid sentence, as he looks over at Rath. Rath doesn’t know what he sees to make his eyes narrow, but he doesn’t like it. It irks him that Alex apparently sees something, it irks him even more when the son of a dogshit pulls a gun on him a second later.

“Alex! What the hell are you doing?” Maria all but yells, taking a step back as her eyes widen in surprise.

“Look at his aura.”

“What?”

“Look. At. His. Aura, Maria. I don’t know who that is, but it’s not Michael.”

He looks at Maria as she turns towards him, her eyes confused, disbelieving, but ready to do what Alex says. Rath schools his features, taking on a mask of neutrality he knows has worked well for him before, that has gotten him through some pretty interesting spots.

But from the way Maria gasps a minute later, it doesn’t work here. She backs away from him, coming to stand closer to Alex who still has his gun trained on him. Oh well, he was hoping he would get to have a bit more fun before he had to leave.

“Well, well, well. I never expected that someone could tell us apart with only a look,” Rath says, his face taking on a predatory grin, his eyes going dark in annoyance. “How well do you know my counterpart for you to be able to do that, huh Manes. You must be something special. Or you were, at least.”

Alex doesn’t rise to the bait, so he does a cursory look up and down, his eyes zeroing in on the gun. Loaded, and the safety is off. “Planning on shooting me, Manes?”

“Maybe I should try to figure out how many bullets you could stop before one gets through,” Alex replies. He’s cocky, this Manes. But Rath knows that he can pull it off, just like the rest of his family.

“The question you should ask is, can you get a shot in before I throw you to kingdom come?”

“Yes.” And Alex doesn’t sound the slightest bit unsure. “Michael’s powers work on a slight delay, and I’m a quick shot. I could shoot you in the head before you could come near me with your powers.”

Maria looks really confused behind him, making Rath laugh. “He didn’t tell you? We’re aliens, babe. Came down from the stars above in 1947. My siblings and I woke up in New York, 1995. Our… clones, woke up in 1997 in Roswell, New Mexico.”

She looks at Alex, unsure. Alex just nods, making her take a breath in shock. Alex let’s one hand go on the gun, taking hers and squeezing it. She squeezes it back, seemingly finding strength in it. Humans, disgusting creatures. If only they weren’t so delicious to play with.

Alex takes his phone from his back pocket, and hands it to Maria before bringing his hand back up to the gun.

“My birthday. Call Michael, tell him we’re here.”

Maria wastes no time, unlocking the phone and finding Michael’s number. “You sure he will answer?”

“He always does.”

Maria gets a slight pained look in her eyes, but nods through it, hitting Michael’s number and putting it on loudspeaker as she does. It only rings a few times before it connects.

“Alex?”

The grief in the voice is exactly as Rath thought it would be, he really is like a sobbing child. But there is a slight hope that comes through as he says Alex’s name that intrigues Rath. Maybe going to Maria wasn’t what would’ve destroyed his clone the most.

“We’re at the Wild Pony, you need to bring Isobel and get here now.”

The phone stays silent for a few seconds, before Michael yells for Isobel on the other end of the phone. He hears Villandra, Isobel, grumble as Michael tells her they need to go.

“Give us fifteen minutes, we’ll be there.” The phone clicks off, and Maria puts it back in Alex’s pocket.

Rath scoffs. “He comes when you beckon, then. What a wimp.”

Alex doesn’t reply, Maria either, though she looks at Alex like she’s trying to figure him out. Like she has finally unlocked something she wasn’t aware of before. Rath doesn’t really give a shit, but it is more entertaining to watch than the floor.

The next 15 minutes is spent in silence. Rath keeps expecting Alex’s laser focus with the gun to lessen, to relax for just a second so he can throw him into the wall but it doesn’t. Which is a shame, because Alex is right. He has a slight delay to his powers that would enable Alex to put a bullet through his brain, and he has no doubts that he would.

A car screeches to a halt outside soon enough, and the door flies open, Michael coming in first with Isobel right behind him. Both of them look wrecked, not that it surprises him, he probably would feel _some_ kind of pain if Zan died.

Michael runs over to Alex, looking him up and down as if he’s searching for wounds, giving Maria the same treatment a second later. But Isobel, oh Isobel is looking straight at him. He tips his head at her, making her take a sharp intake that finally makes Michael look at him as well. He enjoys the look of shock on their faces, as he knows this is the first time they’ve seen him, even if he’s seen them several times before.

“What the actual hell?”

“What?” Rath asks. “Never seen a clone of yours?”

“The fuck do you mean, clone?”

“He means genetic identical,” Alex interrupts. “I found some files in it from Caulfield, but it was only speculation. Obviously there was something true to it.”

Rath watches with glee at the confused, maybe even panicked look the child sends him. He’s obviously not fine with it, and it makes Rath positively burst with joy, that he can do something so easily as exist to disrupt the day for his lesser counterpart.

“Don’t worry. We took care of the third set of clones. They liked to feed on their victims,” Rath says, the predatory grin coming back on his face. “There’s only us now. Well, us, and you two. Since you managed to kill Zan.”

“Wh-We didn’t kill Max! He sacrificed himself!”

“And you let him, knowing he was high on power and willing to do anything for that girlfriend of his.” Rath subtly starts gathering his power, slow enough to not set off Alex. “Have. You. No. Shame.”

Isobel is starting to become angry. She’s so much like Villandra, probably the most alike of all three of them. If Rath was an honest alien, he would know just how much he and Michael are alike too. But today, he chooses not to be honest. After all, why be honest when you can do the more fun thing and wreck some good, old-fashioned havoc on other people’s lives.

He turns to Isobel, his eyes softening as he looks at her. “I’m sorry about what Noah did to you, you didn’t deserve that.”

He turns to Maria and smiles. ”I’m not sorry I kissed you, you’re a great kisser. You ever want to come to New York, you’re more than welcome”

He ignores the angry yell from the child and turns to Alex. “If you’re anything like your father, I hope you die like the Manes Man you are.” He gives Michael a quick once over. “But if you’re not, and you get tired of this sorry sack of bones, you’re also more than welcome to New York.”

He erects a forcefield around himself, just in time for the child to lose his temper. So predictable in his tantrums.

“Get the hell out of Roswell,” Vill- Isobel says, her voice low but with brimming with anger. He bows at her, a traditional bow before he turns around and starts walking towards the back door, happy with what he’s managed to accomplish in such a short visit.

“Oh, by the way, Michael? You only have one soulmate, and you already know who it is. Stop being an assbag,” he says, grinning as the child once again yells angrily towards him.

He can’t help but smile though, as he gets into his car and starts to drive. At least he managed to stir up enough shit to keep himself entertained for a while. And if maybe, just maybe, that helps the other clones to get their shit together and **do** something about their lives and Max being dead, well. Then that might be a good thing too. Either way, it's not the last time he'll see the other clones again.


	6. Day 6: If I could do it all over again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Would you do it again?”
> 
> “What?”
> 
> “If you knew what you know now, and you could do it all over again, would you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've written Liz's POV in this challenge, and lookie here, Max wanted to join too.
> 
> I love Roswell, New Mexico week.

“Would you do it again?”

“What?”

“If you knew what you know now, and you could do it all over again, would you?”

Max looks over at his siblings, both of them watching him with a guarded look on their face. He doesn’t know what to tell them, doesn’t know what they want to hear. He’s hurt them both, badly. Their relationship might me on the mend again, slowly getting better with each day, but he still knows how much pain he put them through when he died. And not just them, everyone around them as well. But at the same time…

“If I could do it all over again, I would, yeah,” he answers, giving them a wry smile as Isobel looks down in what is most likely sorrow, and Michael raises his right eyebrow in a move of annoyance he has seen far too many times directed at him. “I just think our lives might have turned out better for what I did.”

“How so?”

“Liz, Arturo, Maria, even Alex has Rosa back. Kyle is getting to know a sister he didn’t know existed, and they all seem happier for it. And just maybe, this is what the three of us needed to get out connection back on track.”

He sighs and takes a sip of his beer. “I know I hurt both of you, bad. I know you spent months trying to find a way to get me back, I know you were both grieving, and I know I really messed up. But I don’t know if we could have gotten out connection back if I didn’t. Maybe I needed to die for us to figure it all out.”

He watches as Isobel and Michael share a look. After being dead for six months, their connection to each other is stronger again, like it was when they were kids. Like it hasn’t been since they were seventeen and covered up a murder. 

“You’re an ass.”

Max only laughs softly at Michael’s statement, nodding his head in agreement. He is an ass. But he’s an ass who knows who he’s wronged and is trying to fix it.

“Don’t ever do it again, Max. We’ll leave you dead,” Isobel says, watching her with her look of cold fury. He walks over, and loops an arm around her, pulling her in and pressing a kiss to her forehead. He reaches out and catches Michael’s arm, dragging him over and giving him a loud, smacking kiss to the forehead amidst his loud protests.

“I know you’re lying, but it’s okay if you mean it.”

Isobel and Michael both snort, though Michael is the one that answers. “Yes, well. We might do it all over again too.”


End file.
